Betty Carter - I Can't Help It (Impulse!, 1958)

MP3/320kbps





This CD compiles two very different sessions from 1958 and 1960, presenting contrasting sides of the great bop vocalist Betty Carter. The first is with an outstanding 13-piece big band, with thoughtful arrangements by several band members including trombonist Melba Liston, altoist Gigi Gryce, tenorist Benny Golson, and trumpeter Ray Copeland. The setting suits the bop side of Carter perfectly; her approach challenges and matches the horn solos of Golson and trumpeter Kenny Dorham. The second session, with a string orchestra arranged and conducted by Richard Wess, emphasizes the gentler, ballad side of Carter's repertoire, but she hardly sounds repressed. The renditions of "My Reverie" and "Stormy Weather" show what Carter can do with a song in even the most formal settings.



Personnel:

Betty Carter - vocals

Ray Copeland - trumpet

Melba Liston - trombone

Jerome Richardson - tenor saxophone, flute, bass clarinet

Wynton Kelly - piano

Peck Morrison - bass

Specs Wright - drums



Recorded February 1958, 1960 New York City, New York, USA



Track listing:

1. I Can't Help It (Betty Carter) 2:44

2. By the Bend of the River (Clara Edwards) 2:07

3. Babe's Blues (Jon Hendricks, Randy Weston) 2:49

4. You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me (Al Dubin, Harry Warren) 2:30

5. But Beautiful (Sonny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) 3:58

6. All I Got (David Cole) 2:15

7. You're Driving Me Crazy (What Did I Do?) (Walter Donaldson) 1:45

8. Foul Play (Norman Mapp) 2:21

9. On the Isle of May (Mack David, Andri Kostelanetz) 2:02

10. Make It Last (Dick Haymes, Bill Paxton) 4:30

11. The Bluebird of Happiness (Sandor Harmati, Edward Heyman) 1:30

12. Something Wonderful (Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers) 3:37

13. For You (Burke, Dubin) 2:20

14. What a Little Moonlight Can Do (Harry M. Woods) 2:04

15. Remember (Irving Berlin) 2:24

16. At Sundown (Donaldson) 2:42

17. Mean to Me (Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk) 2:04

18. I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire (Bennie Benjamin, Eddie Durham) 2:22

19. On the Alamo (Isham Jones, Gus Kahn) 1:55

20. Jazz (Ain't Nothin' But Soul) (Mapp) 1:56

21. There's No You (Tom Adair, George Durgom, Hal Hopper) 3:08

22. Stormy Weather (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) 3:21

23. My Reverie (Larry Clinton, Claude Debussy) 2:47

24. Don't Weep for the Lady (Darshan Singh) 3:00